Will subservient Bosniak politics miss the chance to establish the truth about BH war

By: Esad Durakovic, Academic

The deadline for filing the genocide lawsuit against Serbia and/or for the revision of the complaint, will expire in February 2017. Although the issue carries a special historical significance, there has been no action in the public eye relating to the lawsuit.  

The public has the right to know whether the lawsuit is being prepared or not, as the aggression and the genocide were not committed upon the politicians who are responsible to inform the public but on that public, on the people as such. Could it be that the politicians, in relation to that, and in their irresponsibility, do not sense the obligation to act and to keep the public informed, as they do not sense the obligation as regards everything else?

Any possible negligence in this case such as missing the legal deadlines, would ring the same as giving up on the lawsuit, which would make the said politicians, individually and institutionally, responsible to the future and the history.

We should emphasize, realistically, that the future lies in cooperation with Serbia also: we need to step into the future which is also in the cooperation, but when doing so, we should bear in mind it is possible only when we establish who bears responsibility for the horrific past, which feels like yesterday, and which is the actual foundation of the contemporary BiH politics but also the politics of Serbia towards BiH to a great extent.

We can 'absolve' the past only by establishing the facts with precision. That is the only way to step into predictable future without burden. Everything else is 'sweeping dirt under the rug', a temporary masking of Evil.

It is curious how Bosniak politicians keep silent in public about this problem. There are some serious indications that cause concern about it, in addition to the most important fact that the deadline for revision of the complaint is inevitably expiring:

1. Srebrenica was lost at the last elections. Srebrenica means more than any other municipality in BiH: it is a symbol of resistance, suffering, aggression; the genocide was committed there and today it is run by a person who denies the genocide. That creates a context which explains the silence about the revision of the complaint against Serbia.

2. The Bosniak member of BiH Presidency is under public pressure to (humbly) invite Serbian president Nikolic to visit. At the same time, it is pointed out that the Bosniak presidency member is to be held responsible that Nikolic has not visited yet.

The pressure distracts from the fact that Serbian president is a chetnik duke who has not abandoned his 'vocation', 'title', 'honor' which inter alia means that Serbia has not distanced itself from what is at the essence of the complaint.

3. The plaque at the Sarajevo City Hall may seem as something ephemeral but it is not so. This is about a fact and more so about symbolic and about this context which it has become a part of. When the Duke was supposed to enter the City Hall, the plaque was covered to avoid hurting Duke's dignity. Those who covered the plaque did not care about hurting the City, and the Truth, and the Suffering which we survived in this City once besieged by dukes and barbarians.

What kind of pathology is when you decide to hurt yourself, your very essence and all that is your own only to avoid hurting your own executioner?!

Now this is not the end. These days, we hear from some very high positions in Sarajevo, requests to remove the plaque from the symbol of Sarajevo (City Hall) and the symbol of its calvary. That is downright unbelievable. Now it is not enough to cover the Plaque (we ought to write it with capital letter!), it has to go down! Why? So that relations with Serbia still led by a duke, get 'normalized'!

One could go on and list a number of indicators which alarm of the possibility that due to their subservient politics, Bosniaks may miss the opportunity to establish the truth about the war in BiH. The truth, and nothing else.

All those with the responsibility in BiH should inform the public and act in accordance with their obligations towards the past and the future...

The victims and survivors of the war mustn't be humiliated. To get even would be insane, yet one should not agree to sacrifice his dignity.

We are merely requesting the Truth, as the only foundation for building the future.